Israel population rising at alarming rate of 2% per year, 4 times faster than global rate

Israel's population is rising at a staggering rate of 2% each year, which is four times faster than the global average of 0.5%. The Jewish state currently has a population of around nine million people. With three children per woman on average, the country is predicted to nearly double in size by 2050. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, Israel's population will reach 15.7 million by 2050, a 75% increase over the present population, and 20 million by 2065, more than twice the current number, Haaretz reported.

For years, Israelis have complained about their country's dense population. However, according to a local demographer, lawmakers are doing nothing to reverse the trend. Sputnik reported, citing Israeli demographer and former deputy director-general of the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, Dr Eliyahu Ben-Moshe, that his country is one of the world's most densely populated countries.

"In the developed world, there are only two other states that are denser than Israel - South Korea and the Netherlands. But density is something we can handle, by placing people in areas that are less crowded [such as the Negev in the south or the Golan Heights in the north - ed]. What we cannot handle are the high fertility rates," Dr Eliyahu Ben-Moshe stated, Sputnik reported.

Israel's population exploded in last decade

It was 6.9 million people in 2005. Ten years later, that figure had risen to 8.4 million, and the Jewish state now has a population of nearly 9.5 million. Israel's population increased by 160,000 people (1.7 per cent) in 2021, reaching 9,450,000 by 2022, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). By the end of 2021, 6.98 million (73.9%) of Israel's residents were Jewish, about two million were Arab, and 472,000 were from other groups, such as non-Arab Christians and people who were not classified by religion in the demographic registry.

The majority of the country's population growth last year was natural (83%), with the remaining (17%) coming from immigration. In 2021, almost 25,000 olim arrived, up 5,000 from the previous year, with 30% coming from Russia, 14.6% from France, 13.9% from the United States, and 12.4% from Ukraine. This year, an additional 9,000 migrants entered the country. Between January and November, 22,700 immigrants arrived in Israel, a 28.8% increase over the same period last year.

In 2021, around 184,000 babies were born in Israel, with 73.8% of Jewish moms, 23.4% of Muslim mothers, and 2.8% of other mothers. Whereas, 51,000 Israelis died this year and 7,500 Israelis had left the nation for more than a year as of December 30. This year's death toll was higher than in previous years, and even more than in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic claimed the lives of 47,788 Israelis.

(With inputs from agencies)

(Image: AP)